Heart Cooks Brain
by laurensays
Summary: Oliver/Kaite. They've always been together. Just never willing to admit they should have been together "like that."
1. Give In

_Authors Note: So, here we are again. I fell in love with Oliver/Katie a while ago and this is one of the first works I have to show for it, written over the course of about three weeks. It's a bit different then what I'm used to, and to be honest, I love the finished product, but I'll let you all decide for yourselves. This part is a bit on the short side (a lot on the short side, actually) but I promise, the next bit is longer. So, I'll stop rambling and start posting. Bear with me, and reviews would be wonderful :)_

**_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Company. The plot is all mine. The title of the story belongs to the wonderful Modest Mouse. _**

**_Heart Cooks Brain _**

_**Chapter One  
Give In**_

Brown eyes met green, barely peeking over the table at each other. Curious, it seemed, as a mother and a father approached each of their children.

_Katie, Oliver. _

_Oliver, Katie._

Two shy smiles met. Katie's mother prodded her gently towards Oliver. Another shy smile graced her lips, and she tripped slightly over her untied shoelace.

"Hi," she whispered.  
"Hey," he mumbled back.

He dug his trainer into the ground, and his father pat him gently on the back. He blushed furiously, looking at the small girl again. She grinned, and they spoke.

"Wanna play?"


	2. Polar Opposites

_Part two. Enjoy :)_

_**Chapter Two**  
__Polar Opposites_

He had just turned eleven. He was her best friend. It was his last summer before Hogwarts; to Katie, it was the end of the world.

In this life, however, the end of the world fell on a beautiful day as Katie and Oliver flew through the sky, ducking and dodging Quaffles that their mothers had bewitched. Oliver caught one and threw it to Katie, who had been stationary on her broom for nearly a minute, a glazed expression gracing her face. The Quaffle skimmed her broom handle, bouncing off her hands and landing with a soft thump in the grass, defeated. Katie snapped to attention, glancing once between the dejected Quaffle, Oliver, and her pink fingers, shooting Oliver a nasty look, and bursting into tears. She landed as she cried, sobbing, sinking onto the warm grass. Oliver landed neatly beside her.

"Katie?"

She sobbed louder.

"Katie what's wrong?"

She shook her head, running into the house, screaming behind her as she wrenched open the door.

"I hate you, Oliver Wood! I hope you don't ever come home!"

He shrugged, looking concerned all the same. Emotional females had never been his game.


	3. Mirrors

_**Chapter Three  
Mirrors**_

The noise in the Common Room reached a new level as the thirteen-year-old Weasley Twins exhausted their supply of Dr. Filibuster Fireworks, setting them off through the window of Gryffindor Tower. Oliver sat back and sighed; it really had been a spectacular win, seeing as Harry had caught the Snitch in his mouth to win the game. He cast a glance around the room, looking for the Seeker but his eyes instead fell on Katie Bell. She sat, laughing at Fred and George and sipping a Butterbeer, with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. He smiled, and felt his face flush red-hot. As his head shook back and forth, trying to rid its cheeks of color, Katie caught his eye from across the room. She grinned, making the thumbs up sign as the two locked eyes. Oliver nodded, shooting a thumbs up right back. His eyes widened as Katie stood, gesturing across the room. The two girls nodded at her and she wove across the rug, stopping at the couch where Oliver was sitting.

"Good game, Capitan," she mumbled.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Thanks. You too."

She smiled softly as took a swig of Butterbeer and kissed him gently on the cheek. Oliver reached up and touched the place where she kissed him with his thumb. Quickly, he took a sip of his drink and willed those thoughts to leave his head.

She was a very good Quidditch player, after all.


	4. Shiver

_**Chapter Four**_**  
**_**Shiver**_

Katie Bell was not known for her grace on the ground. She was not particularly clumsy, but people envied her more for her talent shown on the Quidditch Pitch rather than for her talent shown walking down to breakfast. Katie Bell was most definitely not particularly graceful at all after an early morning Saturday Quidditch practice and several hours in the library slaving over Potions homework. In fact, she was rather disoriented as she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, her bag bursting to the seams with books. As if the entire day was just sitting back and mocking her, Katie tripped as she turned wearily around the corner, dragged down by the sheer weight of her book bag, and plowed down the first innocent bystander of the evening. She struggled to stand but gave up rather quickly; Oliver Wood was sprawled on the ground in front of her, rubbing his head with an amused look on his face.

"What are you doing here?"  
"I was..." He trailed off lamely. _I was looking for you. _"Walk," he grunted.

Katie's lips curled up in a nearly imperceptible grin; she realized she was still sat on top of him and found herself gazing down at the top of his head. She felt eyes on her face, and a sudden, unexplainable, jolt. Katie shook her head; her mind had just wandered to Jupiter and back. She cleared her throat as she spoke.

"Oh. Walk. I was just on my way back to the tower. Join me?"

He looked dazed for a moment, and then nodded, looking at her thin frame still perched on his chest. _Oh_, she mouthed, and stood, brushing herself off and extending a hand to Oliver. He exhaled, grabbing it and pulling himself up. He smiled, and as he slipped her bag off her shoulder and onto his, felt a shock as their hands brushed again and again as they walked up to the Tower together in silence. The corners of his lips turned down. This couldn't possibly be good for him.

And in that moment, he realized how much he was going to miss this place when he was gone.


	5. Dig Your Grave

_Author's Note: Part Five. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!_

_**Chapter 5  
Dig Your Grave**_

Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the surroundings. A broad figure slumped in a chair near her bed grunted, clearly sound asleep. The room was utterly silent, save for the light wheezes coming from behind the curtain.

Katie frowned and barley remembered the details of why she was here.

The figure in the chair grunted again, shifting slightly, and the frown turned into a slight smile as she remembered waking up two days ago; those details were perfectly clear, and Katie decided as she sat and watched him sleep, that she would have had it no other way.

It had not been hard to forgive him for not being there to save him. After all, Katie was not irrational. Katie Bell was in love.


	6. Falling

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Company. The plot is all mine. **_

_**Chapter Six**_**  
**_**Falling**_

It was an impromptu party for an impromptu event. An impromptu event so expected that it required gallons of firewhisky on her part, as she sat looking for forlornly across the room, staring past Fred and Angelina, the impromptu couple of the hour, towards where he leaned gracefully against the makeshift bar. She looked to where he leaned gracefully against the makeshift bar talking to the blonde witch Katie knew from the Weasley's store and her mind was on overdrive, beating herself up.

_Nothing has changed, nothing has changed, nothing has changed and it's never going to. It's never going to be any different then it is right now._

It was the same at Hogwarts, it was the same as when they were children -- Every time she thought he knew, he turned around and wowed her with the simple knowledge that he didn't. That he didn't and if he did he didn't care.

He always reminded her that he wasn't hers.

Katie groaned, and lifted the firewhisky to her lips again. That news, if anything, was reason enough for her to drink herself silly, and that's exactly what she planned on doing.

She'd apologize to Fred and Angelina in the morning.


	7. Remember

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! We're about halfway through _Heart Cooks Brain_, and I wanted to thank once again thank everyone who's been reviewing and reading. It really means a lot! :)_

_**Chapter Seven**_**  
**___**Remember**_

Oliver grinned as he leaned gracefully against the makeshift bar, chatting up the blonde clerk from the Weasley's store. She was pretty enough and an excellent distraction, _but Merlin knows it's no _her_._

A smile. A laugh. Oliver realized he must have said something funny as she leaned in, rubbing her hand against his forearm, the forearm that clutched his firewhisky as he leaned gracefully against the makeshift bar, shooting glances across the room at Katie Bell every chance hehad when he was sure that she was not looking. She hadn't been looking the first time. She wasn't looking the second or third time, and, Oliver reasoned, she certainly wouldn't be looking the seventeenth time, considering that during times thirteen and fifteen she had looked intent on drowning herself in her very tiny glass.

It was a good ten minutes of ignoring her presence and focusing solely on the _very _flirtatious blonde witch in front of him before he hazarded a glance at Katie. His decision to take this _very_ flirtatious, _very_ bubbly, _very_ attractive, _very_ blonde witch – Verity, he thought she said – home with him was hedging on a knifepoint, that knifepoint being the health of Katie Bell.

_"Oliver! Oliver I'm lost!"  
A hiccup. A cough.  
"I'm sorry I got mad at you for going away. I'm glad you kept coming back home." She fidgeted with the hem of the sleeve of her robes.  
A smile._

He chanced a glance. She was slumped over the table, drooling slightly, a frown on her face, and Oliver groaned and realized that this meant his night with this very flirty witch was now over. He excused himself, promising to call her tomorrow; as he scooped Katie into his arms and Apparated to her home, he tried to convince himself that he hadn't been that interested in her anyway.

He'd apologize to Fred and Angelina in the morning.


	8. Midnight

_Chapter Eight_  
_Midnight_

Five minutes to twelve, and the Bell house was bursting to the seams. The Wood's, the Bones', the Macmillan's, and the Weasley's had gathered in the Bell's sitting room, rearing to ring in the New Year. Poor Katie Bell found herself squished into the corner of the room, unwilling to play with the seven-year-old Ginny Weasley, one of the only female children still left awake. Instead, she was content to sit and watch Charlie Weasley and Oliver play game after game of Wizard's Chess, waiting until midnight just to prove she was old enough to play with the big kids. She still missed Oliver, and had been ecstatic when he came home for Winter Break. He had been ecstatic too -- second year, he told her, was even harder then the first. A small smile graced Katie's lips as she watched Oliver, brow furrowed in concentration. He glanced up at her, smiling, and patted the floor beside him. Clambering down from the chair she was in, Katie settled on Oliver's side of the board, resting her head in her hand, precariously close to the pieces. The minutes ticked by slowly, and Katie's head began to droop.

Midnight chimed, and Katie Bell was sound asleep, head knocking over Oliver's remaining chess pieces as she nestled into the floor. He smiled, shaking Charlie's hand and offering his mum a kiss on the cheek. As Oliver's mum walked away, both Oliver and Charlie looked down at Katie, Oliver with a confused smile on his face.

There had always been something so incredibly peculiar about that Katie Bell. He just couldn't figure out what it was.


	9. Invisible

_Author's Note: I'm back! And I'm sorry... I have a huge apology for anyone reading this story. This past week has been so unbearably busy and hectic and tiring that I've barely had time to write, and I haven't had enough energy to reread the next few chapters of _Heart Cooks Brain_ and post them, nevermind keep up with my homework. But! I survived the first week of Senior Year and hopefully I'll get better at managing my time and will be able to write and post more regularly. Enough of my rambling; tonight for your reading pleasure I'm going to post parts nine and ten of this story, and another Katie/Oliver that I've had in my back pocket for quite a while. Enjoy! _

_**Chapter Nine**_**  
**_**Invisible**_

A clapboard house. A white picket fence. A glorious expanse of emerald green lawn. The sound of the sea, calming as ever, and the scent of saltwater filling every corner of every wide-open space and room.

Three children, impeccably groomed yet impossibly messy, windswept and tan. Toy broomsticks, a seeker, a keeper, and a bookish chaser, and Katie Wood, the proudest of them all. Oliver comes home after a long day, still rough around the edges, and smiles, beaming at his lovely wife.

Their house. Their lawn. Their children. Their impossibility.

They forget: Everything is possible.


	10. Watch it Crash

_**Chapter Ten**_**  
**___**Watch it Crash**_

They had arrived at the party together. He had gotten her a firewhisky, and she had led him over to Fred and Angelina, congratulations in order. He was still unsure why he had left her side until he saw her, perfectly content, chatting up a wizard from London, a friend of a friend of the Weasley's. His guilt, eased. Until he saw her, sat alone at a table, sipping hopelessly, staring. She looked around, slightly drunk, wondering where he had gotten to, and just as he leaned in to kiss the perky blonde witch –

Katie Bell had the mother of all hangovers. She clutched her forehead, and Oliver was flooded by a guilt trip of epic proportions. He should have never let her go. She should have told him to stay and he wouldn't have left.

And here they are: An impassé.


	11. On Letting Go

_Author's Note: Two more to go. Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I love you all. Seriously. _

_**Chapter Eleven  
On Letting Go**_

The room was white, the rug, a deep crimson. Sunlight shone through expansive windows and the guests mingled amongst each other, eager to see the ceremony's start. This had been talked about, raved about, gossiped about – the phenomenon had lasted for months, and here it was, culmination eminent. This was the beginning of a beautiful new life for two. For the others, unluckier, it was the end of an era.

She had dreamed about this for months and weeks. Mrs. Oliver Wood. It rolled off the tongue; it made sense in her still-shocked mind.

As the women in the bridal party lined up at the threshold of the huge double doors, Katie smiled and looked around at the others. They smiled back, unable to remain unaffected by the excitement in the air. As she nodded happily, Katie glanced down. Something was wrong, she realized, as she stared down her front.

Quite suddenly, her shoes were not white. Her dress was not white. She was wearing a hideous lavender contraption and the most unappealing pastel heels, gripping a dozen or so bright pink poppies. She looked around, horrified, as she was jostled into line, squeezed behind the bride and the seven or so remaining women in the hallway. The bride turned around, and Katie gaped in horror as the face of Alicia Spinnet stared back, beaming. _Impossible_, screamed Katie's brain. Alicia had married George shortly after Fred and Angelina, nearly three years ago. No matter though, as Alicia patted Katie on the arm, squeezing it in reassurance before her face morphed into that of Ginny Weasley. She shook her head, _But where – _And Ginny Weasley leaned in and hugged her gently, a nervous smile on her lips. _This is impossible,_ thought Katie as Ginny stepped back and turned around, shifting from side to side nervously. The wedding march started somewhere in the back of Katie's mind and the bride turned around once more before starting down the aisle, her face settled into that of Lavender Brown. This time, Katie screamed in horror, dropping the flowers that smashed into a million pieces at her feet, Lavender's face morphing into Luna Lovegood, Katie wearing a bright pink confection, and she turned to run but couldn't, stuck to the deep red rug that had suddenly turned into a sloping green field, she was barefoot, Luna was Ginny again, this time in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and then Ginny was Minerva McGonagall, and Katie blanched, it was Tonks before her and they were in a house Katie had never seen before, then the burrow, and then, mercifully, there was nothing, and Katie screamed once more as she was hurled through space, waking with a start as she landed, safe on her couch and sweating, shaking, in fear.

She lay still for quite some time as she tried to regain her normal breathing pace. It was just a dream – a nightmare. A work of fiction. A lie.

And then she rolled over, stood, and caught sight of a cream-colored envelope laying opened on the coffee table. A feeling of dread pooled in her stomach as she lifted it, reopening the flap and pulling the heavy paper out from inside.

_Verity Dawson_

_&_

_Oliver Wood_

_request the pleasure of your company_

And once more, Katie's nightmare became very, very real.  


* * *

_Author's Note two: After checking the HP Lexicon, I've come to the conclusion that Verity has no last name. Usually, making up/adding/extending/randomly giving names is against my better judgement, but this time it was add or die... or, uh, don't write. Sorry for just making it up :)_


	12. Last Chance

_Author's Note: One more part until we come to the end. Thanks for reading! :)_

_**Chapter Twelve**_**  
**___**Last Chance**_

Katie had never been good at small talk. Perhaps after a few drinks, her tongue was much looser, but Katie had never been good at holding her liquor, either. She hated the feeling of a hangover, though, and preferred to suffer through small talk with strangers, although that option was not usually any better. She had been on quite a few dates in her day, but no prospects had lasted very long; perhaps a second or third date, a quick shag if they were both in the mood, but even after sixteen long and rather confusing years, Katie found herself extremely enamored with her very married best friend. Dates to Katie meant nothing; it was simply a time to socialize with people she had been set up with by various friends. Some men were very handsome, some were not, but she still found herself comparing them to Oliver. They had barely talked in the time he had been married, and Katie found herself, for the first few months at least, trying to make excuses for his nonexistence in her life. Time passed, and her excuses got lamer and lamer, and no matter how many men she met at the Three Broomsticks, something still felt like it was missing.

After a particularly horrid meeting at the Three Broomsticks one evening, Katie returned to her flat, disheartened yet slightly exuberant. It had been during this particularly horrid date that she had come to the conclusion she could not go on living as such, simply existing for the sake of existing and making pathetic excuses for Oliver. She let herself into her flat, the bubble of joy deflating slightly as she lit a small lamp and sat on her couch, staring off into space.

She dozed, head nodding into her chest, as a sudden pounding snapped her awake. The noise, coming from her front door, confused her – anyone who would call this late at night would have just flooed right into her fireplace. Unsteady on her feet, she ambled towards the door as the pounding continued. Pausing only for a moment, she flung it open, gaping silently at the broad figure on her porch.

"Katie Bell, I am the stupidest man on the face of this Earth."


	13. Over and Out

_**Chapter Thirteen**_**  
**___**Over and Out**_

The room was white, the rug, a deep crimson. Sunlight shone through expansive windows and the guests mingled amongst each other, eager to see the ceremony's start.

Talk about déjà vu.

She had not dreamed about this for mere months and weeks. She had dreamed about it since childhood, since the day he left for Hogwarts without her, and she kept pinching herself to ensure that it was a reality. Nobody understood why she kept looking down at her dress and her shoes, but Katie Bell could not help but inspect them at any chance she had, still remembering the nightmare of nearly two years ago.

Beaming around at her bridesmaids, she nodded happily as she stood on the threshold of the huge double doors. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the wedding march began and Katie took a deep breath, an effort to calm her spiraling nerves. She thought back to the day the Oliver showed up on her doorstep, remembering that she had not forgiven him for nearly three months after. Another deep breath, a nod of her head, and one more smile as she started down the aisle.

Mrs. Oliver Wood.

She liked the sound of that.

* * *

_Author's Note: Alas, the end. Special thanks to everyone who read, and extra hugs for those who kindly reviewed. You guys are fantastic. I'm working on some other oneshots, and hope to have something to post within the next week or so, so keep checking back for new updates._

_Also, totally unrelated to my previous ramblings but something that needs to be said nontheless: A few days after I finished writing this, I was listening to The Scientist by Coldplay. If you've got the time on your hands, I strongly suggest reading this and listening to that together. This wasn't inspired by Coldplay, but it was frightening when I realized that the song and the story (so coincidentally) go hand in hand. _

_Ciao ciao, and thanks again for reading. :)_


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